THE NUMBER "NINE" IN THE BIBLE

It is well known that certain numbers in the Bible may have more than a literal meaning attached to them:

    One: the unity of God

    Two: a quorum

    Three: the Trinity

    Four: creation

    Five: a common measurement based on the digits of one hand

    Six: an incomplete number falling short of perfection

    Seven: perfection or completion

    Eight: a new beginning

    Ten: another complete number

Notice how the number nine is prominent by its absence. And while it is not commonly encountered in the Bible, I would propose that, as one short of the perfect number 10, it may also stand for something not completed or imperfect just as 6 (one less that the perfect number 7) does elsewhere. Below is a quick review of the places in the Old and New Testaments where “nine” appears in a possibly symbolic context. Since most of these appear in historical settings, I realize that it may be stretching a point to look for anything deeper than a literal meaning in these passages.

Genesis 14:9

“Gen 14 is a unique chapter, which has occasioned a vast amount of discussion...Theologically, it is not easy to see the purpose and function of the story.” (D.F. Payne)

However, from a literary point of view, Hamilton notes: “The key chapter in Genesis for the institution of the covenant with Abraham are chs. 15-17. But standing on both sides of this crucial pericope are events involving Lot in unpleasant situations.”

The chapter contains several battles between alliances of kings, culminating in the capture of Lot, who must be rescued by Abraham. Verse 9 tabulates the battle as 'four kings against five,' which Wenham says “is typical of royal campaign records (cf. Josh 12:24; 2 Sam 23:39).” However, the form of those two cited passages is nothing like that in Gen. 14:9.

Perhaps, I might propose, we are to see that this battle is not at all conclusive since the two numbers add up to the “incomplete” number nine. The really conclusive encounter comes when Abraham and his men free Lot in the following verses.

Genesis 17:1

Wenham: “This most significant episode in the Abraham cycle begins rather dully with a note about his age, 'When Abraham was ninety-nine.' Yet this remark is important for it puts the momentous promises that constitute the centerpiece of this episode in context and makes it possible for us to appreciate how amazing they are.”

Thus, Abram was 99 years old when God made a covenant with him, his name was changed to Abraham, he was circumcised (17:24) and begat the promised son. Besides being a historical fact, we might say that his life up to that point was incomplete (one short of the perfect number 100) until these important events took place.

The Book of Job

The bulk of this book is comprised of Job's replies to the arguments of his 3+1 friends, presented in three cycles. Interestingly, the first three interrogators give only give eight speeches between them, the third round petering out with no comments from Zophar. That is followed in the book by an extended argument by the young Elihu, who only first appears in chapter 32. The fact that these nine speeches are all off-base and incomplete in their knowledge of God's ways is then underscored by the appearance of God himself who in the tenth speech sets Job straight.

Nehemiah 6:4-5

This is another passage in which 4 and 5 appear in close conjunction with one another. It reads: “They [Nehemiah's enemies] sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.” This recounts various unsuccessful attempts to stop Nehemiah from his task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in one way or another. The fact that they could not complete their schemes is symbolically underlined by the 4 + 5 formulation, one short of the perfect number 10.

Interestingly, the Greek Septuagint translation of this verse omits both of these numbers, perhaps feeling that they served no particular purpose.

Nehemiah 11:1

A different usage of “nine” appears here in the description of how the city of Jerusalem was repopulated. Fensham explains that “the leaders already lived in Jerusalem and that measures for the other people were being taken...Lots were cast to select one out of every ten persons to live in Jerusalem...The people regarded their selection by the sacred lot as the will of God, and were thus satisfied and glad to do his bidding. For this positive attitude they were praised by the rest of the people...It was for them a privilege to live so close to the temple where the special presence of the Lord was felt...The remaining nine were to stay in the rural cities or towns in order to maintain farming activities.”

We will see this same special honor for one out of ten in the NT story of the healing of the lepers, cited below.

In discussing the significance of the number, Jenson says, “Nine appears rarely, although as one less than ten it is significant in the nine-tenths of Neh. 11:1.” Unfortunately, he fails to spell out precisely what that significance is.

Isaiah 17:6

In the oracle concerning Damascus, God tells the prophet there will be a day when “the glory of Jacob [i.e. the Northern Kingdom] will be brought low...And it shall be as when reapers gather standing grain...gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten – two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree.”

Oswalt comments: “The prophet uses three figures of speech [in vv. 4-6] to describe what will remain to Israel (and Syria)...In each of these ways...the prophet says that only bits and pieces will be left to Damascus and Ephraim when God has done his work.”

The way the passages goes from two-three to four-five is reminiscent of Amos 1-2, which contains eight oracles of doom having the same format: “Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of [name of country], and for four, I will not revoke the punishment.” The x,x+1 formula has been explained in various ways, one of which in Amos is to indicate that the destruction will be complete (3 + 4 = 7). If the same sort of reasoning is used in the case of Isaiah 17:6, then we might say that the Northern Kingdom's destruction will not be complete since 4 + 5 only equals 9, not 10.

Matthew 18:12-13 // Luke 15:1-10

Only Matthew's Gospel has the parable of the one missing sheep out of the 100 in the flock. Luke, however, additionally contains the somewhat parallel story of the one missing coin out of 10. The number 99 is prominently mentioned in both gospels, but the number 9 has to be deduced in the story of the woman's coins.

The biggest issue in understanding the missing sheep parable, according to most scholars, revolves around the seemingly larger value the shepherd places on the one sheep in relation to the 99. Thus, Fitzmyer responds, “Joy over ninety-nine who have no need of repentance cannot be compared with the divine joy over a penitent!” And Blomberg states, “The theme of greater joy over the captured stray may seem incongruous but only to those whose hearts are hardened like that of the prodigal son's brother (Luke 15:25-32).”

France says that this joy “emphasizes God's pastoral care: it is caused by the recovery, rather than by any superiority of the sheep itself.” By contrast, the early Gnostic writing, Gospel of Thomas (#107), tried to explain the “problem” by stating that the missing sheep was bigger than the other 99 and thus of special importance.

Strangely, the Gnostic writing called The Gospel of Truth (AD 140-180) comes the closest to agreeing with my own feeling regarding the Parable of the Lost Sheep, even if it is expressed in a rather cryptic manner. Verses 31-32 of that document say that the 99 are held in the left hand, but when the missing one is found, all 100 are transferred to the right hand. The import of this mystic language appears to be that the 99 are incomplete without the missing one, falling short of the “perfect” or “complete” number 100.

Thus, as Kistemaker puts it, both parables have “a definite evangelistic thread...The fervor Jesus displayed in associating with the so-called 'sinners' of his day must glow in every member of the church, radiating the warmth of evangelistic zeal...” I have been in all too many congregations who felt completely self-satisfied just as they were and fought any attempts to “waste” the resources of the church in efforts to reach the lost.

Matthew 27:45 // Mark 15:33-34 // Luke 23:44-46

The time of Jesus' death according to these three sources occurred around the ninth hour, which is equivalent to 3 PM. Most scholars feel that the significance of that time lies in the fact that this was one of the regular times in which sacrifices were offered in the Temple along with prayers to God (cf. Exodus 29:39; Leviticus 6:20; and Josephus' Antiquities 14.65.) This background certainly fits in with Jesus making his final prayer to God followed soon after by his sacrificial death on our behalf. In addition, Raymond Brown, for one, notes that the time indication is pertinent in highlighting the unusual darkness that spread across the land. He quotes a number of OT passages in which such a darkening seems to have been predicted much earlier.

But there may additionally be significance in the number “nine” in regard to the events taking place. For this possibility, see my comments on the passages in Acts below.

Mark 10:21

This is probably the most subtle allusion to “nine” in the whole Bible. The rich young ruler comes to Jesus and recounts all the commandments he has followed faithfully from his youth. But Jesus says to him, “Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” The man goes away sorrowing since he loves his possessions. Jesus has pinpointed the one lack in this man's life. He had not really followed all ten commandments, but only nine since he coveted all of his possessions and was unwilling to share them with anyone else.

Luke 17:17

In this miracle story, ten lepers are healed by Jesus but only one returns to thank Him. This account differs in its use of “nine” in a slightly different way than that number functioned in His matching parables discussed above. In those former cases, the emphasis was on the necessity of the lost one to be restored in order that perfection be reached. But in this case, the emphasis of the number nine is on the incomplete nature of the healed, but ungrateful, lepers.

“The contrast of nine with one further expresses the pathos, for the nine were presumably Jews, members of the house of Israel. Obedient enough to carry out Jesus' injunction to present themselves to the priests, they were cured – physically; but their failure to react responsibly (in not glorifying God and thanking Jesus) reveals that they have missed the greatest moment of their lives.” (Fitzmyer)

And Ellis adds, “The ungrateful 'nine' exemplify the general attitude of the Jewish people toward Jesus' mission.”

Acts 3:1

At the ninth hour of prayer, Peter and John were entering the temple when they encountered a lame man asking for alms. Instead, Peter heals him of his infirmity.

Acts 10:3,30

In this somewhat related episode, a godly gentile named Cornelius, known for his alms-giving, is praying at the ninth hour when an angel comes to tell him that his prayers and alms have been noticed by God, and that he needs to contact Peter. Peter comes to Cornelius' house and converts him and other gentile God-fearers.

It may be a bit of a stretch, but I see a common pattern between these two stories in Acts and the account of Jesus' death. All three occurred at the ninth hour in the context of prayers to God, and in each case what was imperfect at the time (less than the perfection of 10) becomes perfect. That applies to the despair of the cross leading directly to resurrection, the lame man being healed, and the first group of gentiles responding positively to the message of eternal salvation.